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Monday, March 12, 2012

A successful start to the green cart pilot program

The green cart pilot program got off to a great start during the first week of collection in the communities of Abbeydale, Brentwood, Cougar Ridge and Southwood.

Mother Nature may have provided some challenging weather and road conditions, but it didn’t stop thousands of Calgarians from filling up their kitchen pails and putting their green carts out for pick-up. More than 12,000 kilograms of food and yard waste was collected in the four communities and most people were putting the right things in and using their compostable bags.

For many residents, collecting food waste is slowly becoming a part of their regular routine, so it will take time to adapt, but the Green Cart team is impressed with the results thus far.

"Collecting food waste is completely new for many residents, so it's great to see that residents are eager to use their green carts and make the effort to keep their food waste out of the garbage," explains Lindsay Lofthouse, green cart project manager.

“The only way we can reach the goal of diverting 80 per cent of residential waste from landfills is to compost food and yard material. Offering a program that is easy and convenient will encourage Calgarians to participate.”

All of the material collected from the green carts is brought to a transfer station just outside of city limits. From there, the material is brought to a composting facility near Strathmore where the all of the, meat, bones, potatoe peels and other food and yard waste will be turned into compost in a matter of months.

Tell us how it’s working
How was your first week with green cart collection? Do you have any helpful tips that have made collecting food waste easy at home that you want to share with other pilot residents? Join the conversation on our Green Cart Facebook page.